Building Social Skills in Early Childhood: Tips and Strategies
Social skills are the abilities that allow us to interact and communicate effectively with others. Building social skills from a young age is crucial, as it sets the foundation for healthy relationships, emotional regulation, and prepares children for their transition into school and the community.
Developing social skills refers to how a child collaborates with others, develops friendships and relationships, navigates different social situations, and handles conflicts with peers. So, what are some important social skills children should learn to develop from when they’re young?
One of the most important skills for young children to learn is how to socialise and cooperate with others. Social skills will help set children up for life, and help them form positive relationships, have conversations, share, and navigate various situations.
Research shows that early education is one of the best ways to develop these social and interpersonal skills. In childcare and kindergarten settings, children have a wide range of opportunities to develop valuable social skills through different experiences and structured learning. For many children, attending a long day care or kindergarten will be their first ongoing experience interacting with children outside their own family. This helps them build connections that will support them with future relationships.
Having well developed social skills can also lead to improved self-esteem and cognitive abilities, and a happier mood if they are more engaged with the world around them. While there are many benefits that come from strong social development in early childhood, what are some strategies we can put in place to support children in developing these skills?
Children learn by observing others, listening, exploring and by asking lots of questions. Encouraging group play and activities provides opportunities for children to interact and listen to one another and develop their social skills. At Aspire, we recognise the need to facilitate group play at every developmental stage.
In our Aspire Nursery programs, we facilitate play in small groups to build on the children’s relationships with each other. By playing together with one or two of their peers, they learn to share toys, crawl around the space together, and demonstrate skills such as taking turns and sharing.
Aspire’s Toddler rooms also participate in a range of different activities that support their social development. Water play is one activity that allows children to develop their social skills by working together. It involves scooping, swooshing, squeezing, squirting, and pouring different items in a water tub as a group, which is a great way for children to learn how to share and negotiate.
In our Aspire Kindergarten rooms, children love working together to solve puzzles. This type of activity promotes problem-solving skills but also their social development. Solving puzzles in a group encourages the children to communicate together while working to complete the task. Some of our Aspire centres also offer a language incursion program for the Kinder rooms called Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA). Our ELLA program introduces children to new languages through interactive, play-based learning. These experiences provide valuable learnings to children that supports their literacy and social skills.
Engaging children in activities that require teamwork and collaboration, such as building projects or physical activities is also important. Encouraging cooperative play increases the children’s fine and gross motor skills and helps develop their social skills.
Recently the toddler children at Aspire Cranbourne West engaged in play where they had to support a partner whilst they balanced along a set of stepping logs in the outdoor yard area. As they hold hands and assist their peers, they are not just making an improvement to their balance skills but advancing a sense of friendship and cooperation. Because of this, a strong foundation forms for their social development and teamwork skills.
As part of our Aspire curriculum, we also offer a sports incursion program run by Little Sports Heroes. This incursion program encourages children to engage in physical activity through different sport activities as a team. This helps children develop and nurture their social skills by communicating with one another and working as a team.
By helping children understand and manage their emotions, we enable them to interact more effectively with others, handle conflict, and build strong, healthy relationships. One way to teach emotional recognition is by discussing and labelling emotions to help children recognise and understand them. E.g. “It seems like you’re upset because you have lost your favourite toy”. You could also use emotion charts that display emotions that correspond to different facial expressions. E.g. matching the word happy to a happy facial expression.
A recent activity that was implemented in our Aspire Toddler room was getting the children to use a mirror to see themselves and follow cues from the room educator who asked them to find specific body parts. This exercise encouraged self-awareness and reflection as well as emotional regulation. By observing themselves in the mirror, the children connected their emotions with the physical sensations in their bodies.
There are many other activities such as role-playing, or board games that can also help children recognise their different feelings.
Lastly, modelling positive social behaviour is one of the most effective ways to teach children social skills. Children learn by observing the actions of their adults and peers, making it crucial for parents, educators, and other role models to demonstrate appropriate social interactions. When having everyday conversations, ensure you are using polite language and are encouraging positive feedback. Show you are always actively listening and demonstrate this attentiveness to children. It’s also important to show empathy and understanding when someone shares their feelings and offer support when it is needed.
This will help teach and influence children positive social skills that will help them later in life. Our Aspire Educators always ensure they demonstrate effective communication and show kindness and respect to one another throughout their day.
Building social skills in children involves teaching and providing daily opportunities for them to learn and build on their skills. By fostering these skills early, caregivers and educators can help children develop into socially and emotionally healthy individuals.
To learn more about how we can support your child’s social development at Aspire, enquire with our team today, or visit your local Aspire centre.
